A Dancer in the Dust

June 9, 2014
New York risk management consultant Ray Campbell, the narrator of this fine if flawed crime novel from Edgar-winner Cook (The Chatham School Affair), worked in the African country of Lubanda for a nonprofit organization 20 years ago as an idealistic young man. The present-day New York murder of Seso Alaya, a Lubandan employed by Campbell then, brings back difficult memories of Africa and, particularly, of the only woman he ever loved, Martine Aubert, a white Lubandan who embraced her country as it was, eschewing contributions of do-gooders. Campbell has never forgiven himself for his inadvertent role in Martine’s undoing, and by returning to Lubanda to investigate Seso’s murder, he hopes to make amends by helping her beloved homeland. Cook displays an excellent grasp of the culture of African villages and of NGOs, but the constant time-shifting can be dizzying. And his hero’s habit of couching a wide range of situations, from love to farming, in terms of risk management theory distracts more than it enlightens.

August 1, 2014
A murder investigation sends New York risk-management consultant Ray Campbell back to Lubanda, the troubled African country he visited in his mid-20s as an idealist hoping to make a difference. Twenty years later, a native Lubandan, Campbell's former translator, is found tortured and killed in New York before making a promised delivery to Bill Hammond, once Campbell's colleague in Lubanda and now head of a major charitable trust. Memories flood Campbell, particularly those of the woman he loved. Martine Aubert was a white Lubandan of Belgian ancestry whose firm beliefs about what was best for her country put her at odds with her government and led to dreadful results that are fully revealed only in the closing pages. Campbell is haunted by his unintended role in the tragedy. Love of country prevails over romantic love, as award-winning author Cook peels back the political machinations in a country roiled with violent upheavals, deception, and betrayal in which international aid is not the panacea it might seem. While chronological shifts may be confusing, Cook takes on international-relations issues here to riveting effect.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)